Below is a list of terms commonly found in
philosophy texts and other scholarly works. Some are esoteric and rarely
seen ('adscititious,' 'deipnosophist'); others are more frequently employed
and contextually significant.

absolute -- 1.
that which can exist on its own without depending on other things. 2. in
ethics, the view that moral truth exists independently of cultural
context and time and place ("moral absolute"); cf. moral
relativism.

absolutism --
in political philosophy, the view that absolute rule is the most
desirable, or the least inadequate.

adscititious
-- not inherent or essential, derivative.

a posteriori
-- reasoning from particular facts to general principles or
conclusions; inductive, empirical. [ Latin, "from the
posterior".]

agathism --
the doctrine that all things tend towards ultimate good, as distinguished
from optimism, which holds that all things are now for the best.
adj., agathistic. [From the Greek agathos, good.]

agnosticism --
the belief that one cannot know whether God exists or does not exist. An
agnostic may or may not believe in God, but in any case feels that there
is insufficient proof to hold fast to either view. Cf.
atheism.

animism -- the
belief that objects are inhabited by spirits, and that natural events or
processes are caused by spirits.

anthropomorphism -- the ascription of human characteristics
or motives to inanimate objects, natural phenomena, or supernatural
things. Many major religious systems -- among them Judaism and
Christianity -- share anthropomorphic qualities. An example is the belief
that human beings are "made in God's image," or that God is a personal
deity sensitive and responsive to human need and pain, or more commonly,
that God is an elderly man with a long gray beard sitting somewhere in the
sky on his celestial throne.

anthropopathism
-- the attribution of human feelings and emotions to anything not
human; e.g., inanimate objects and animals.

anthroposophy
-- a theory advanced by Rudolph Steiner (1861-1925) contending that
the spiritual realm can be understood through the exercise of human
intellectual faculties. Knowledge of "higher worlds" is possible according
to this view.

apocalyptic --
of or pertaining to religious revelation or to momentous spiritual
occasions. From the Greek, meaning "uncovering".

apodictic --
incontrovertibly true; demonstrably so, certain.

apollonian --
having the classical beauty and strength of Apollo as opposed to the
emotionally volatile and romantic attributes of Dionysus. The
Apollonian/Dionysian -- or classicist/romanticist -- distinction is one of
which many philosophers have made use since Hellenistic times. It was
drawn upon by Nietzsche, for instance, in The Birth of Tragedy; the
Apollonian was depicted as critical, rational, logical; the Dionysian as
intuitive, creative, artistic.

archetypes --
1. an original model or prototype. 2. the quintessence or ideality of
something. 3. in Jungian psychology (Carl Jung, 1875-1961), symbolic
representations of established ways of responding to certain types of
experience, contained in the collective unconscious.

Arianism -- a
heretical doctrine associated with the teachings of Arius, an Alexandrian
priest of the fourth century who taught that God created from nothing
(ex nihilo) and begot a Son before He created all other things. The
Son of God, according to Arius, was divine but not equal to God. This
doctrine was condemned as heresy at the Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.). The
official Church teaching at Nicaea was that Jesus and God are
consubstantial, of one and the same substance.

Aristotelianism -- of or pertaining to the philosophy of
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), among the greatest philosophers who ever lived.
Aristotle made prodigious contributions to the understanding of biology,
epistemology, ethics, logic, metaphysics, and politics.

associationism
-- a theory of knowledge propounded by thinkers such as Condillac
in France and James Mill in England which holds that nearly all thought
processes are governed by association (e.g., cause and effect, resemblance
and difference, contiguity). Associationism has influenced the modern
theory of conditioning and learning; it is opposed by those who believe
the mind can freely create arbitrary images.

ataraxia -- a
tranquil and calm state of mind.

atheism -- the
belief that God does not exist.

Atman -- in
Hindu religion, the individual soul, in contrast to
Brahman.

atomism -- the
theory, as set forth by philosophers such as Democritus, that physical
objects consist of minute, indivisible particles moving in a
void.

attribute --
in Spinozistic philosophy (Benedict Spinoza, 1632-1677), one of the
infinite aspects of Reality, such as matter or thought.

Averroism --
the philosophical system of Averroes, an important medieval philosopher
and contemporary of Thomas Aquinas (see Thomism). Averroes denied
the immortality of the soul but thought reason to be eternal and
transcultural.

axiology --
the study of values and the nature of value judgments.

axiom -- a
statement that is true by definition or so obviously true that it needn't
be proved. In logic, an assumption used as an unquestioned basis for a
theory.

behaviorism --
a psychological theory that stresses the importance of studying overt
behavior and denies the legitimacy of introspective reports of
consciousness. Behaviorists see mental activities (emotions, dreams,
pains) as having no scientific value.

Brahman -- in
Hindu religion, the power that sustains the cosmos and the soul
(atman).

Buddhism -- a
religion of various sects (e.g., Zen, Mahayana) founded sometime in the
6th century B.C. by Siddhartha Gautama (the Enlightened One) which teaches
that suffering is part of existence and that the extinction of separate
consciousness is prerequisite to enlightenment. (Useful commentaries on
Buddhism can be found in the highly regarded works of Christmas Humphreys,
D.T. Suzuki, and Alan Watts.)

Calvinism -- a
religious offshoot of Protestantism known for its doctrine of
predestination (the idea that every individual is predestined to either
damnation or salvation).

categorical
imperative -- in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), a moral
law or command not dependent on any conditions; a rule enjoining us to act
so that we could will our act as a universal maxim.

Catholic --
the official title of the Western Church after the rift between the
Eastern and Western Christian Churches. [from the Greek, meaning
"universal"].

Catholicism --
the religion of Western Christianity up to the Reformation; the religion
also of the Church of Rome.

causality --
the theory that every event has a rational cause. Aristotle identified
four causes to everything: material, formal, efficient, and
final.

coherence theory
of truth -- the theory that a statement is true if and only if it
coheres with a given system of statements or beliefs.

collective
unconscious -- in Jungian psychology (Carl Jung, 1875-1961), the part
of the unconscious that contains symbolic representations, or archetypes,
of ancient ways of thought inherited from humanity's past
experience.

contingent --
a proposition whose truth depends on facts about the world, not on the
rules of logic. In modal logic, all true propositions that are not
necessary are contingent.

contradiction, law
of -- first put forth by Aristotle, the axiom that nothing can both
have and not have a given property or characteristic.

cosmology --
the study of the origin and structure of the universe.

cynicism -- 1.
a Greek school of philosophy originally based on the doctrine that nothing
can be known. In the Roman era cynicism became an ethical doctrine
emphasizing the need to live an austere, abstemious life. 2. more
recently, the view that people act in ways to further their own ends and
self-centered ambitions.

deipnosophist
-- one who speaks learnedly at the dinner table; from a work by
Athenaeus, Deipnosophistai, written in 228 A.D.

deism -- the
belief that there is a God whose existence can be apprehended without
revelation. Cf. agnosticism, atheism, and theism.

determinism --
the theory that all events (including mental ones) are caused, so that
whatever happens cannot happen otherwise. Determinism is opposed to the
theory of free will, which holds that human choice is active and
unconstrained.

dialectic --
1. the art of testing whether assertions are valid or not. 2. In Hegelian
philosophy, a kind of logic that proceeds from thesis to antithesis to
synthesis. [from the Greek, "pertaining to debate".]

dialectical
materialism -- in Hegelian and Marxist theory, the view that the world
is a material process undergoing stages of unending change.

dogmatism -- a
theory or belief system unsusceptible to critical questioning and doubt; a
dogmatist is one who holds unflinchingly to an idea in the belief that
such an idea is infallible.

dualism -- 1.
a theory opposite to monism, holding that reality consists of two
substances (e.g., mind and matter, body and soul). 2. in Platonic
metaphysics, the belief that human being consists of soul and body, the
latter being a prison in which the formerly all-knowing soul resides. 3. a
theory running contrary to monotheism, holding that supernatural reality
is of two forms, the one good and the other bad; Manichaenism is
one such dualistic religious view.

ecumenism -- a
movement providing worldwide unity among religions through cooperative
understanding. [ecumenical, from the Greek, "of the inhabited
world."]

empirical --
based on observation and experiment rather than pure reason;
inductive.

empiricism --
the epistemological view that all knowledge is grounded in experience and
direct observation, and not what's in our mind a priori. Eminent
empiricists include Locke, Berkeley (pronounced Barkley), Hume, J.S. Mill
and Bertrand Russell.

entelechy --
the inner nature of something which is responsible for its ultimate
development and fulfillment. In Aristotelian philosophy, entelechy is seen
as form, as distinguished from matter.

Epicureanism
-- school of Greek philosophy (Epicurus: 341-270 B.C.) based on the belief
that there are no divine laws and that wisdom consists in the pursuit of
rational pleasures; the forerunner of modern utilitarian moral
philosophy.

ethics -- the
theory of good and evil, of conduct which is right and wrong; the branch
of philosophy dealing with moral principles and their methods of
justification.

fatalism --
the doctrine that each person's destiny lies beyond any individual effort
to change it.

first cause --
the beginning of an elaborate series of causes, often identified with
God.

free will --
the freedom of conscious choice of moral agents, irrespective of the
significant influence of genetic endowment, environment, and cultural
circumstance.

hedonism -- in
moral philosophy, the doctrine that 'good' is that which contributes to
pleasure or diminishes pain. The most influential of classical hedonistic
philosophers was Epicurus; more recent hedonistic philosophies include
those of the utilitarians (Jeremy Bentham, James and John Stuart Mill
among them).

idealism -- in
metaphysics, the view that ideas or thoughts are the chief, organizing
reality, as against the views of materialism, which holds that matter is
the primary reality of the universe. The most popular and enduring
idealistic philosophy is Platonism.

intuitionism
-- in ethics, the view that people have an innate sense of right and
wrong.

logic -- the
study of proper reasoning, of valid and invalid arguments, of fallacies
and syllogisms. Usually broken down into formal logic and informal
logic.

maieutic -- see
the Socratic Method.

materialism --
the doctrine that matter is the only, or primary, reality, as opposed to
idealism, which contends that ideas and thoughts of things are the only
reality.

metaphysics --
the study of being in its largest sense; an inquiry into the ultimate
reality. [Literally, "beyond physics".]

monism -- 1.
In Greek philosophy, the theory that everything is made out of the same
basic stuff (e.g., the atomistic philosophy of the Ionians); the theory
that there is literally only one thing (the Eleatic monism of Parmenides
and his disciples). 2. The rejection of dichotomies, such as those of
'mind' and 'matter'. Examples of monist theories are materialism
and idealism.

moral relativism
-- The view that values differ across cultures and societies and are not
universally "true" in all places and for all time. The opposite
of moral absolutism

naturalism --
the doctrine that reality is governed by certain laws, including those of
cause and effect.

nihilism --
1. the view that nothing can be known, that knowledge is illusory,
meaningless, or irrelevant; the denial of any objective ground of truth.
2. the view that moral values and perspectives are groundless and cannot
be justified, either by appeal to God and tradition or by appeal to the
human conscience, intuition, or the laws of a state. 3. the belief (e.g.,
of Nietzsche) that the universe has no ultimate aim or purpose, that human
life is insignificant. [From the Latin nihil,
"nothing".]

nirvana -- in
Buddhist religion, a state of mystical wisdom achieved after all fleshy
desires have been surmounted. In Hindu religion, the renunciation of all
material attachments and achievement of ultimate happiness.

noumenon: in
Kantian philosophy, the thing-in-itself which cannot be perceived in
experience.

Ockham's Razor
(or Occam's Razor) -- a principle developed by William of Ockham
(1285-1349) which holds that the simplest of two or more competing
theories is preferable, and that entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter
necessitatem ("entities are not to be multiplied beyond
necessity"). The principle is often referred to as the law of
parsimony.

ontology --
the study of being, of the ultimate nature of things.

ousia -- a
Greek term meaning essence, the essential nature of a thing.

panentheism
-- the view that God is both "in" all things and outside of all
things at the same time; the idea that God is both immanent and
transcendent.

panpsychism
-- the theory that all objects in the universe -- "inanimate" as
well as "animate" -- have an inner being or psychological
nature.

pantheism --
the doctrine that God is inherent in all things, that every particular
thing in the universe is a manifestation of God's essence. The doctrine
was most influentially and cogently advanced by Spinoza.

Peripatetic --
a follower or disciple of Aristotle. The word comes from the Greek verb
"to walk about"; while holding discussions with students, Aristotle would
frequently walk around.

pluralism --
the doctrine that the world is composed of many things, the source of
contrary processes. Cf. monism.

positivism --
a philosophical view which recognizes only those things that can be
empirically verified, or known directly by observation.

pragmatism --
the notion that truth is the practical application of an idea; a theory
which emphasizes the instrumental nature of the intellect and which sees
the consummation of truth in direct, successful action. The earliest
pragmatist philosophers were Americans: C.S. Peirce and William James
among them.

prolegomenon
(plural: prolegomena): a critical introduction to a thesis or work;
prefatory remarks.

realism -- 1.
The doctrine in epistemology that the external world exists independently
of perception. 2. The view that universal ideas correspond to objective
realities.

relativism
-- See moral relativism.

scholasticism
-- a philosophical movement of medieval times characterized chiefly by
speculative thought, the merging of theological conceptions with
metaphysical ones (as, say, in the work of Aquinas).

Socratic Method
-- An approach to teaching and philosophizing pioneered by Socrates
(470-399 B.C.) which consists of asking a succession of questions. The aim
is to expose some weakness or inadequacy in the thinking of the
interrogated. The questions serve as an impetus for further study and
reflection.

specious --
an argument that seems plausible but is in fact fallacious.

subjective --
existing in thought as opposed to the "external" world.

theism -- 1.
belief in a God or Gods. 2. the view that God transcends the universe but
is also, in some way, immanent in it.

transcendental
-- that which is beyond the reach of the senses, of ordinary experience.
[literally, "to climb over".]

transcendentalism -- 1. The philosophical disposition to
look for truth within oneself, as against the conventions of culture or
society. 2. A form of realist metaphysical thought, esp. in Plato, which
sees Truth beyond the phenomenal, material world. 3. A part of Kantian
philosophy in which real knowledge is achievable when one can transcend
mere empiricism and ascertain the a priori. 4. A New England
movement, associated most often with Ralph Waldo Emerson, that sought to
express spiritual reality and the ideal, relying exclusively on
intuition.

utilitarianism
-- the moral philosphy of Epicurus, and much later, of Jeremy Bentham,
James Mill, and John Stuart Mill, according to which actions are
considered moral which contribute to the greatest happiness of the
greatest number of people. "Good" is tantamount to "pleasure," "bad" with
"pain". Contrast this view with deontological ethics.

voluntarism --
the doctrine that the will is the supreme force or factor in human conduct
and in the universe; this perspective received its most influential
articulation in Schopenhauer's philsophy.

Weltanschauung
-- German word meaning "worldview," a way of looking at and
understanding the external world.

yang -- in
Chinese philosophy, a universal principle which manifests itself as a male
force, as spirit and heaven.

yin -- in
Chinese philosophy, a universal principle which manifests itself as a
female force, as body and earth.

Zen -- a
system of Buddhist meditation intended to transcend the normal categories
and strictures of human rationality, whose ultimate goal is the
achievement of satori, or deep revelation and insight.